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Religion
Over the centuries, Maesian Religion has evolved from the monothiestic beliefs of the Elder Races, to several multithiestic universal religions. Additionally, several races have their own ethnic religions or followings that have developed or been maintained though generations of practice. __TOC__ Universal Religions Nainism nane-ism, nane-ite Followers of Nainism (otherwise known as Nainites) believe the world is run by a handful of patron gods representing the six elements of the world (earth, air, fire, water, light, and dark), who maintain balance and order through perfect opposition with each other. They mean the mortal plane no harm, but take no particular interest in its denizens, either. For "miracles" to take place is not by the gods' will, but by the hands of its worshippers - by having a thorough understanding of the delicate balance, they can tip the scales one way or another through selective worship to cause specific events (for example: in a drought, Nainites would worship the patron earth god, to cause the water goddess to compensate and bring forth rainfalls). Nainites generally stay out of religious debates or wars in general, but have been known to take sides depending on how unbalanced the world has become, in order to restore it to order. Mages are frequently Nainites, and the Guilds of Magic as a whole were established on Nainite principles, with each Guild aligning itself with one of the six patron gods. Patron Gods *Khalroz - God of Dark *Lynai - Goddess of Light *Kaisei - God of Air *Atsumi - Goddess of Water *Kouya - God of Earth *Korenohl - God of Fire Iaroism ee-are-oh-ism, ee-are-oh-ist (alternatively yar-oh-ism, yar-oh-ist) Followers of Iaroism (Iaroists) believe in the divine goodness of their patron gods - they exist solely to ease and reverse the imperfections of the mortal world such as death, despair, and disease (since during the world's creation it was accidentally populated before it was a complete copy of the heavenly plane). Patron gods encompass aspects such as creation, knowledge, light, and reincarnation, all under the banner of the Iaroist God and Goddess. Iaroists believe that if they are devout in their worship, it will empower the gods and speed up their work in "finishing" the incomplete mortal plane, creating a beautiful place free of negativity and darkness - an exact duplicate of the heavens. Iaroists are often in direct opposition with Ra'orics due to their wildly opposing beliefs. Patron Gods Figureheads *Aros *Celenia Aspects *Keitara - Goddess of Creation *Albix - God of Knowledge *Leiro - God of Song *Shaele - Goddess of Peace *Seykia - Goddess of Sunlight (The Sun) *Zenoep - Reincarnation Ra'orism rah-or-ism, rah-or-ick Those following Ra'orism (Ra'orics), are generally considered pessimistic about the workings of the world. They believe the gods created the world to be their plaything, and that all mortals are pointless pawns in their game. They preach that the gods enjoy putting mortals through trials and suffering and death, and that only devout worship keeps them from growing bored and generating great catastrophes to destroy all life. Below the banner of the two Ra'oric deities, the other gods of Ra'orism embody aspects of death, suffering, and reanimation, and Ra'orics often call on their powers through rituals to cheat death and prolong life, for they believe nothing awaits them in the afterlife. Ra'orics more often than not end up in (sometimes violent) religious debates with Iaroists over the nature of the gods and the gods themselves, considering their completely opposing views on the matter. Patron Gods Figureheads *Daorx *Narime Aspects *Raigor - God of War *Arulan - God of Moonlight (The Moon) *Acrahn - God of Destruction *Ohrau - God of Affliction *Eriyane - Goddess of Suffering *Encaira - Goddess of Resurrection/Reanimation Ethnic Religions The Great Dragons : Main article: The Ohndaku The elder race of the ohndaku have maintained their religious beliefs through millenia of change, largely due to their religion being directly tied into their biology. They worship six gods (which they refer to as "The Great Dragons"), which represent six aspects of the persona that are most revered among ohndaku culture. At any given time there are always one to six draconigena in the world - special ohndaku with colored scales and a strong affinity with the personality trait which matches their color. Ohndaku religion states the draconigena are the messengers of the Dragons on the mortal plane. Each draconigena is linked to the others mentally, has a special "aura sight" that allows them an enhanced sense of vision, and is expected to embark on a "Pilgrimage to the Skies," where they travel to the highest peaks of the Keletan mountains to recieve the Word of the Dragon that "chose" them. They then take their Dragon's Words and spread them amongst the other ohndaku, who adapt accordingly to fit the whims of the Dragons. The ohndaku religion has no specific name, as the ohndaku have never had the need to differentiate between belief systems until recently, when for the first time non-ohndaku have converted to their faith. Amongst non-ohndaku, the religion has sometimes been called "yhevscani," which is a rough adaption of the ohndaku language's word for "dragon" ("yhevsca") and also the name of their written language. The Great Dragons *Yhava (yah-''vah'') - White, female - Serenity *Hyvjheon (hiv-jay-on)- Black, male - Wisdom *Mayanav (mai-an-av) - Blue, female - Adaptability *Vheog (vay-ogg) - Green, male - Growth *Avheanq (av-hey-anhk) - Purple, female - Vitality *Yvchem (eve-chem) - Red, male - Strength Children of Elrae : Main article: The Teiha The Children of Elrae are less a religion and more a lifestyle. The term is self-appointed by the water-dwelling elder race of the teiha, whose day to day lives revolve around the state of the waters they live in. Both salt and freshwater teiha "listen" to the tides and currents of their homes, and use them to accurately predict events such as weather, earthquakes, schools of fish or other phenomena which could potentially affect undersea life. The older the teiha, the more in tune they are with the signals the waters present, and so are given massive respect in their communities as "prophets" of a sort. To this day the teiha reverently refer to the spirit of the waters as Elrae, hence the name the teiha have given to themselves, as well as other aquatic life (though not all sentient aquatic races agree with the term). Trivia